Noble Redman

Cyril Wallingford, a cynical Martian guide with a talent for spotting a scam, thinks he has finally landed on easy money after a disastrous tour of the ruins of K'nar leaves him unexpectedly rich. In Marsport, his attention is caught by Noble Redman, a huge red-skinned stranger who pays for water with raw gold and seems to know too much about gambling, ships, and danger. Wallingford tries to stay ahead of the mystery, but when Redman is pursued by crooked house men and armed enforcers, the two are forced into a desperate flight across Mars and into an uneasy alliance. That alliance takes a shocking turn when Redman reveals he is an Earthman, a survivor from the radioactive, supposedly dead planet hidden from the rest of the galaxy. As the truth emerges—of Earth's sealed-off survivors, their advanced mental powers, and Redman's mission to recover technology and gold for a return home—Wallingford finds himself torn between greed, fear, and survival. Darkly funny, fast-moving, and packed with betrayal, telepathic intrigue, and interplanetary chase, this is a sharp science-fiction adventure about suspicion, greed, and the terrible cost of underestimating the wrong man. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.